Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Kilchoman, Inaugural 100% Islay vs. Winter 2010 Release

Having been quite impressed by the Spring 2011 Release from
Kilchoman, I was very excited to visit the distillery last spring and see Islay’s newest operation in person. The concept here is
that of a “farm distillery”, where the barley is grown, malted, mashed,
fermented, distilled, aged and bottled all on the same property.

Some distillers, such as Springbank, produce “local barley”
bottlings where the barley is purchased from nearby farms. As far as I know,
Kilchoman is the only one in Scotland
that actually grows there own barley. But the small farm can only put out
enough barley to supply 30% of the distillery’s needs. The rest of the barley
is purchased (malted to order) from Port Ellen Maltings, on the southern end of
Islay.

What they do grow themselves is malted in-house, on a
traditional floor malting, with peating levels between 10 and 20 ppm phenols,
and used exclusively for their 100% Islay
bottlings. Only six other distilleries in Scotland currently malt their own
barley, keeping alive a tradition that was the norm until the 1960’s.
Kilchoman’s purchased malt is peated to 50 ppm phenols and is used for all of
their other bottlings.

As I traveled from one distillery to the next during my two
week stay in Scotland,
each tour would be followed by a visit to the gift shop, and that was the
moment of truth – what did they have for miniatures? When you visit 14
distilleries and have to fly home, well, you can only pick up so many full
sized bottles. But why get a miniature of something I can easily get at home?
The special 50ml bottles were what I was really after. At Caol Ila, Lagavulin
and Oban, not a single mini was to be seen. Tobermory had their 10 year in
miniatures, as did Bunnahabhain with their 12 yr. I would have greedily snapped
up minis of their 15 yr and 25 yr, respectively.

Tourism has become an important aspect of the Scotch Whisky
industry. Many distillers are realizing the need for quality visitor facilities
and engaging tours. Hopefully more will recognize the relevance of miniatures,
especially of high end and limited edition whiskies. In this regard, both
Glengoyne and Kilchoman scored top marks.

Needless to say, I purchased all that Kilchoman had to
offer. I’ll be tasting two today and two more very soon. The prices listed
above are typical 70cl bottle prices, I find that better for comparison sake,
and I don’t recall what I paid for the miniatures.

The Inaugural 100% Islay
and the Winter 2010 Release were both aged for 3 year in first-fill bourbon
barrels. The biggest difference between them is the peating levels outlined
above, but there is also a small difference in abv, 50% and 46%, respectively.

Inaugural 100% Islay

Pale straw in color. Mostly peat coming through on the nose,
but in a clean, light way. There are some slightly floral aromas that remind me
of the new make spirit I nosed on a few distillery tours. The nose is pretty
representative of the palate, with floral notes and moderate peat doing most of
the work. I’ll be honest, it comes across pretty green and immature (it is only
3 years old after all). It definitely needs more time for flavor development
and to become better integrated. Its pleasantly long finish may be the
highlight for me. Still, it’s showing good potential, and it is interesting to
see the roots of this whisky.

Winter 2010 Release

Also pale straw in color. At first glance the 100% Islay looks slightly lighter, but I think it is just the
colors of the labels playing tricks on my eyes. Primarily peat on the nose
again, but with a sharper, more aggressive manner. Some of the same “new make
scent” is present here too although much more subtle. Certainly more peat
intensity than the 100% Islay, and it comes
off as being a little more well-tied-together. I think that added peat
intensity helps to mask what it is lacking in flavors contributed by the casks.
It goes a little off course on the mid palate with the floral notes coming to
the fore, but this one also shines on the finish.

I don’t think these are inherently floral malts, like
Tobermory and its peated cousin Ledaig. The young examples of Kilchoman just
haven’t seen enough time in the cask for the floral attributes of the spirit to
fade out. The Lagavulin new make spirit I tasted had similar qualities, which
are undetectable in the 12 yr and 16 yr bottlings.

I’ve been holding on to the last bit of my Kilchoman 2011
Spring Release to compare to the others. A little extra time (30% 4yr, 70% 3
yr) and a partial Sherry finish (30% for 5 weeks) go a long way. I tend to dote
over other reviewers’ numerical ratings, but I hate assigning them myself – for
the sake of comparison I’ll go 80, 84, and 88 here; quite respectable
considering the youth of the whisky at hand.